Friday, June 15, 2012

DIY Driftwood Tutorial

Living landlocked in the Midwest, I can't stroll on the beach collecting driftwood. I wanted driftwood for my beach themed summer mantel, but the cost of purchasing and shipping the real thing was just too much for me. What else could I do except find a way to make it myself? Using my chemistry background, I've developed a simple process for making faux driftwood from sticks and logs found in your yard. Let's get started!

Materials
- eye protection and rubber gloves
- dry sticks and small logs
- hammer, other tools that could be used for distressing the wood
- Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (MSDS)
- hot water
- container large enough to hold the wood
- wire brush
- (optional) oven for drying the wood
- sandpaper or sander power tool

1. First collect dry sticks and small logs. Mine were small logs from a cedar tree we cut down last year. A lot of the outer bark had already peeled off which was a plus.

2. Now take your hammer and beat up your wood. Be sure you wear eye protection. I smashed the ends of the logs to make them look less perfectly cut. I also used a chisel to split off some of the wood.

3. Fill your container with hot water. I just used the hot water in our garden hose that was sitting out in the sun. Put on your rubber gloves. Start adding the washing soda while stirring with one of your logs. Keep adding and stirring until no more will dissolve. CAUTION: The resulting solution is caustic so you do not want to get it on your skin or in your eyes.

4. Place your wood in the solution and let it soak for 12-24 hours. I needed a large rock to hold the logs under because they wanted to float.

5. A few times during the soaking period, pull out the logs and use the wire brush to scrub off the layers of bark which have softened. Make sure you are wearing your gloves and eye protection. I did it twice, but it could take more or less depending how much bark is on your wood.

6. When all of the bark has been removed, rinse your logs very well with water. Now you can leave them in the sun to dry. As always, I am impatient so I put them in my oven at 250 F for about an hour.

7. Once dry, it's time to make your wood look like it has been eroded by the ocean waves. Use sandpaper or a sander to round out all the sharp edges. Completely sand down any small branches that don't look like they would survive a beating in the ocean.

Now go decorate with your faux driftwood!

Are you interested in how this works?

The active ingredient in the washing soda is sodium carbonate. When dissolved in water, it makes a caustic solution (high pH) that breaks down the lignin in the wood. Lignin is a component of plant cell walls which gives them strength and rigidity. Breaking down the lignin softens the bark so it can be easily scraped off. In addition, the components of the wood that give it color are released (you may notice that the water becomes reddish brown), which lightens the surface of the wood.

Awesome tutorial! Being midwestern landlocked myself, this will help! I tried to convince my husband to let me bring driftwood back from Hawaii last month, but he seemed to think we didn't have the luggage space for JUNK. How dare he!!!

I nearly shouted out loud with delight at this- FINALLY!!! I was so, so frustrated... finding all those awesome driftwood projects, but no driftwood- no joy. You made my mothers' daughter a very happy gal indeed!

Wow, I love a smart project, and this is one for sure. I live by the beach and hardly ever find driftwood. I would love to try this myself. Thanks for sharing your chemistry skills with us. Brilliant! Found you at Lines Across. Hope you'll stop in and visit at Quirky Vistas sometime.Liz

Thanks so much for sharing this info for us. I was wondering if regular "land locked" wood could be turned into something that would pass for driftwood and you have gone and done the hard part of figuring out the process for us. I saw your post as it was featured on the "At The Picket Fence" blog.

I used your technique to great effect on a large pine picture frame from a thrift store. Only difference -- instead of a bucket, I laid it out on a tarp and basted it with a foam brush several times throughout the day to keep it wet. It looks so good. Thanks for sharing!

For NicciB in The Netherlands, go to this site:http://naturesnurtureblog.com/ttt-turn-baking-soda-into-washing-soda/ to find out how to turn baking soda into washing soda. I haven't yet tried it, but plan to do so today. Good luck to us both! ~Twila~

Thanks for this post!I DO live near the beach - I beach walk several times a week.Driftwood is very rare on the beach here -YAY! Now I can find branches and twigs when I walk in the park (also several times a week)then go home and make my own driftwood!

Driving in the Texas backcountry yesterday, I saw so many pieces of fallen trees, and thought to myself, could that be made into driftwood. ? And here you are....so very interesting. Just am going to have to try this at least once and see how it comes out. Thank youi, Rose

Absolutely love this - I will be doing this with boards like pallet boards and whatnot. I also live in the midwest, however where I live, we do have some driftwood (you really have to search) and it is legal to just take at this point - some places, it isn't legal. Also, I absolutely love your sense of humor and your patience level. ...might have to do the oven thing since the snow will be flying soon. :) Thanks again!!

Hi, I'm Kirstin. Welcome to Craftiments, a creative DIY blog about my experiments in sewing and crafts. I can't wait to hear from you! You may send your questions and comments to kirstin {at} craftiments {dot} com.